Hybrid crystalline bioparticles with nanochannels encapsulating acemannan from Aloe vera: Structure and interaction with lipid membranes

Author(s)

Madrid, Rafael R. M. ; Mathews, Patrick D. ; Pramanik, Shreya ; Mangiarotti, Agustin ; Fernandes, Rodrigo ; Itri, Rosangela ; Dimova, Rumiana ; Mertins, Omar

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science; v. 673, p. 13-pg., 2024-06-14.

Abstract

Smart nanocarrier-based bioactive delivery systems are a current focus in nanomedicine for allowing and boosting diverse disease treatments. In this context, the design of hybrid lipid-polymer particles can provide structure-sensitive features for tailored, triggered, and stimuli-responsive devices. In this work, we introduce hybrid cubosomes that have been surface-modified with a complex of chitosan-N-arginine and alginate, making them pH-responsive. We achieved high-efficiency encapsulation of acemannan, a bioactive polysaccharide from Aloe vera, within the nanochannels of the bioparticle crystalline structure and demonstrated its controlled release under pH conditions mimicking the gastric and intestinal environments. Furthermore, an acemannan-induced phase transition from Im3m cubic symmetry to inverse hexagonal HII phase enhances the bioactive delivery by compressing the lattice spacing of the cubosome water nanochannels, facilitating the expulsion of the encapsulated solution. We also explored the bioparticle interaction with membranes of varying curvatures, revealing thermodynamically driven affinity towards high-curvature lipid membranes and inducing morphological transformations in giant unilamellar vesicles. These findings underscore the potential of these structure -responsive, membrane -active smart bioparticles for applications such as pH -triggered drug delivery platforms for the gastrointestinal tract, and as modulators and promoters of cellular internalization. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 21/00971-2 - Crystalline-phase nano cubosome functionalized with biopolymers: development as a drug carrier and in vivo studies in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
• Grantee: Omar Mertins
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 22/12376-4 - Development of parasite treatment in fish with nanoparticles: a technology-applied approach
• Grantee: Patrick Mathews Delgado
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants